


Things Change

by FelineIncognito



Category: Hocus Pocus (1993)
Genre: Aftermath, Supernatural Elements, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:34:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28861872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FelineIncognito/pseuds/FelineIncognito
Summary: She was different after that night. They all were. She could feel it down to her bones, a creeping something just waiting to make itself known. Allison was quieter, scared, like she daren't look over her shoulder for what she'll find. Max was always tired, slow and aching in his movements and strands of grey already showing themselves in his dulling brown hair, soft lines forming at the edge of his blank eyes. And she wasn't sure what had happened to her.
Relationships: Max Dennison/Allison Watts
Kudos: 2





	Things Change

She was different after that night. They all were. She could feel it down to her bones, a creeping something just waiting to make itself known. Allison was quieter, scared, like she daren't look over her shoulder for what she'll find. Max was always tired, slow and aching in his movements and strands of grey already showing themselves in his dulling brown hair, soft lines forming at the edge of his blank eyes. And she wasn't sure what had happened to her.

Allison had theories, of course she did. Dani wouldn't be surprised if she had a good deal of the answers too. But the older girl spent almost two years too scared to let Danni know anything as she and Max searched. Ever since that night, there had been strange happenings starting in their sleepy little town that held so many secrets. Perhaps it was because of the Sanderson sisters, three powerful witches with a claim on Salem now vanquished beyond hope of return. Or perhaps things had always been this way, they could just see it now.

Could see the haughty men and women with mystery in their smiles and power dancing in their eyes. Her friends laughed at the strangers dressed in outdated flowing dresses and robes with all sorts of animal companions trailing after them. Danni made sure to smile enigmatically and mutter cryptid greetings with a respectful nod to her curious new neighbors waltzing down the streets as the glow of not quite sunset settled over their small town.

Lone travelers came into the town next, once the sun had set, pale skin glowing in the moonlight and their too-white teeth gleaming under the streetlamps. They found what passed as a nightlife in that sleepy little town and gave it a power all on it's own. Made it something dark and waiting for you to drop your guard. She worried for Max and Allison, dragged in by their friends and too afraid to say no and just stay home lest something happens they could have prevented. She tries not to think about the gaunt figures that stay just on the edge of society, bruises -like the lovebites Max and Allison gave each other they thought they were so good at hiding- on their necks and wrists and silvery scars that most anyone else would miss if they didn't know how to spot a thrall.

Dani made sure her friends kept away from the shortcut through the park by the seedy motels when the groups of leather-clad bikers or trucks full of grumpy looking hippies came through the first full moon after that Halloween night. All of them tired and wary of anyone not from their own little group, especially those who only came out after dark. She tried not to push too hard when she saw Mary walking home from school with one of the shaggy haired boys that had roared into town with the last pack of monthly visitors. Kids being enrolled in school was a sign of permanence that made her stomach sink and roil so much she almost ran home to Allison and Max.

She learned how to whisper low enough that no one could hear the foreign words rolling off her tongue as she and her friends walked past that too familiar graveyard on their way to the movie theatre. She learned the best ways to hide the little baggies of salt, vials of holy water and blessed silver flasks of sacramental wine she kept with her at all times. She began to only wear jewelry made of silver or iron and even gets ahold of some of the real gold rings from her grandma's old jewelry box. Allison gives her a small sgian-dubh covered in runes and with a hilt wrapped in rough paper-thin leather that reminds her of Winifred Sanderson's book. She doesn't ask where the older girl got it.

"What changed?" She whispers one night as she curls up between Allison's warmth and Max's ever weakening form. "Why is everything so… so different?"

"Oh sweetie," Allison sighs and runs her fingers through the loose strands that had escaped Dani's braid. "Magic is coming back to Salem. With the protection of the Sanderson sisters gone Salem is free game for… everything out there." Her voice is too soft, too careful. "There's no one to protect the town anymore, and people are taking notice."

"We could do it." Max's voice is hard and a little cold compared to Allison's. Dani can feel the glare the older girl gives her brother over her head. "We have the book and we have all of those notes you found Allison, we could do something about-"

"Max Dennison, you will stop that. You already lost a **piece of your** _ **soul**_. I don't need to lose the rest of you to some stupid idea that-"

Dani keeps her voice low as she burrows deeper into the older girl's side, her brother wrapping his arms a little tighter about the two of them. "Why is it stupid?"

Allison cuts back a pained whimper as she curls tighter about Dani and wraps her arms as far around the siblings as she can. "Oh you Dennisons are going to kill me."


End file.
